Yoga of Nutrition : Hrani-Yoga

‘A meal is a magic ritual by means of which food is transformed into health, strength, love and light. Observe your own reactions: if you have eaten while you were agitated, angry or in a rebellious state, you will notice that for the rest of the day you will be ill-tempered, nervous and biased, and if you happen to have difficult problems to solve, you will tend to take a negative perspective. You will then try to excuse your attitude, saying: ‘I can’t help it! What do you expect, I’m high strung!’ And in an attempt to calm your nerves, you begin taking pills, which does you no good. If you want to improve your nervous system, learn how to eat!’

‘Although this has never been talked about before, from now on nutrition will be recognized as one of the best forms of yoga. The other yogas - Raja yoga, Karma yoga, Hatha yoga, Jnani yoga, Kriya yoga, Agni yoga – are all magnificent methods, but it takes years of practice to obtain even very meager results. Whereas with Hrani yoga (which is what I call the yoga of nutrition), results are extremely rapid. It is the easiest and most readily accessible of all yogas, and every creature under the sun practices it, albeit still unconsciously. All the secrets of alchemy and magic are contained in this least known and least understood of all yogas. This is why, even if you are overwhelmed with obligations, you must never allow it to be an excuse for failing to develop your spiritual life. Every day, at least three times a day, you have a golden opportunity to link with heaven, with the Creator, since every day, three times a day, you have to eat.’

Vegetarianism

‘Vegetarianism is a way of life that must never be imposed on anyone, so as to avoid creating physical as well as psychological imbalances. The decision to take up this discipline must be based on mature reflection and a commitment made entirely freely. It is not enough simply to give up eating meat; on the contrary, in order to maintain a balanced diet, it is indispensable to replace meat by a variety of vegetarian proteins.’

‘The difference between flesh foods and vegetarian foods lies in the amount of solar rays they contain. Fruits and vegetables are so steeped in sunlight that one could say they are a condensation of light. This means that when you eat a fruit or a vegetable, you are absorbing the sun’s rays, which leave very little waste in us. Meat, on the other hand, is rather low in sunlight, which explains why it spoils so quickly.’

The way we eat helps our spiritual life

‘Life is based on symbiosis, or relationships of exchange: exchanges with food, water, air, other human beings… exchanges with all the creatures of the universe, with the angels and with the Creator himself. When I speak of exchanges, I am not only speaking of nourishment, of eating and drinking. Or rather, yes: I am speaking of eating and drinking, but in all dimensions, not only on the physical plane. So when I say nutrition has to take priority, I am speaking of nutrition on every level. I am referring to the interaction and exchanges we must have with all the different regions of the universe in order to nourish every aspect of our being, from the physical to our subtlest bodies. Prayer, meditation, contemplation and ecstasy are all forms of nutrition. They are the best and most sublime forms, in fact, for they give us a taste of celestial food, of ambrosia.’

101 Reasons Why To Be a Vegetarian  http://vivavegie.org/vv101/101reas2011.htm

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